The present invention relates to a structure of a foot board for a four wheeled all-terrain vehicle having a seat designed to be straddled by an operator and handlebars for steering control, and more particularly to a structure of a plate shaped foot board with a brake pedal provided generally horizontally on one side of a lower portion of a body frame of the vehicle.
A foot rest (a foot placing portion) for the all-terrain vehicle generally has a structure similar to that of a motorcycle, that is, a bar type foot rest attached to a lower member of a body frame to protrude outwardly on both sides, and has a tip portion covered with an elastic material such as rubber. Such a conventional structure, however, has disadvantages that the operator's foot is restricted on the foot rest, and the operator tends to feel fatigue on the foot after the running of long hours, because the position of the operator's foot cannot be changed freely relative to any change in the riding position of the operator, due to the speed of the vehicle or the unevenness of the ground. In addition, the operator's foot is exposed to mud and water splashed by the front wheels.
In order to overcome the disadvantages mentioned above, employment of a plate shaped foot rest, or a foot board made of synthetic resins or metals is proposed. Such a plate shaped foot board, however, needs to provide a foot stepping portion of a brake pedal above a foot resting or putting face of the foot board, which tends to locate much higher above the foot putting face of the foot board with respect to the stepping amount of the brake pedal. As a result, the operator must raise his (her) ankle or heel from the foot resting or putting face of the foot board to perform a braking operation, which is inconvenient compared with the bar type foot rest wherein the foot stepping portion of the brake pedal can be located almost horizontally with respect to the foot putting portion of the foot rest.
Consequently, a plate shaped step board (foot board) provided with a foot rest projection thereon for easier braking operation, is proposed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 60-209373. In such a step board (foot board), however, the position of the operator's foot is still restricted on the projection during running in the same manner as in the bar type foot rest. Therefore, the above mentioned disadvantage is not completely eliminated regarding restricted movability of the operator's foot. In addition, due to a wide plane portion of the plate shaped foot board, weight reduction of the foot board is difficult with respect to the necessity of providing strength and preventing vibration.
As described above, the bar type foot rest has disadvantages in that the operator feels fatigue on the foot after a running of long hours since the position of the operator's foot is restricted, and in that the operator's foot is exposed to mud or water splashed by the front wheels. The plate shaped foot board on the other hand, still has disadvantages in that the braking operation is inconvenient, because the foot stepping portion of the brake pedal is located so high above the foot resting or putting face of the foot board that the operator must raise his (her) ankle or heel from the foot putting face of the foot board to perform a braking operation. In addition, the large plane area of the foot board tends to reduce the rigidity, and weight reduction is difficult with respect to the necessity of providing strength and preventing vibration.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a foot board for a four wheeled all-terrain vehicle of light weight simple structure and with easy braking operation, by which the operator's foot is protected from mud and water splashed by the front wheels, and on which the position of the operator's foot can be freely changeable during running.